The Columbia Experience

<p>As you also asked this question on the Harvard forum, I’m going to repeat most of my explanation because Yale and Harvard are very similar schools, whereas Yale and Columbia are completely different. </p>

<p>Columbia prides itself on its Core Curriculum. Every student, regardless of major, is required to take the same basic set of courses: Masterpieces of Western Literature, University Writing, Frontiers of Science, Contemporary Civilization, Music Humanities and Art Humanities. All first and second year students must take these specific courses – the theory being that it gives all Columbia graduates a shared commonality and conversation. The core is not for everyone – students either love it or hate it.</p>

<p>Yale’s distributional requirements are less rigid; they allow students to pick-and-choose courses from a broad range of categories over four years. See: [Distributional</a> Requirements | Yale College](<a href=“http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/distributional-requirements]Distributional”>http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/distributional-requirements)</p>

<p>Once you understand the schools, and the differences in their educational philosophy, your choice should become clear. Which school fits your personality better?</p>

<p>I realize that I didn’t answer your diversity question, but the question become moot when comparing such different curriculums.</p>

<p>It matters, but it should not be the reason you pick one school over another.</p>

<p>i feel like the two are radically different. yeah, they are both extremely prestigious but i came to realize that they are really different after going on a tour on Brown and attending a summer sesh @ columbia this past summer.
The weather is different, location, the extent of how “liberal” they are (no core-curriculum at Brown.) …just the vibe itself are very different, from what i saw.
Columbia is more like in the middle of a bustling city, at the intersection of people, culture, etc. Brown is more like (as i saw it, of course :)) a more tightly knit community, maybe like a town of its own, almost!</p>

<p>anywho, both are amazing i must say! as far as class diversity, i guess it really depends on individuals. i mean i personally would love to be surrounded by people from diverse backgrounds and make as much endeavours to learn from all the variety, whereas to someone else it might not matter as much.! hope this helped a bit :)</p>

<p>Diversity is a factor that makes schools stand out. However, when hesitating between two schools, one should choose the school that has the best program one plans to pursue.</p>

<p>Dude, that’s your video, you didn’t “come across” it. Stop trolling.</p>

<p>if youre a minority, then yes, if youre a white non-racist then no</p>

<p>Class diversity is a great thing even if you’re not a minority. You can learn a lot from people that come from different backgrounds, races, religions, socioeconomic classes, etc. Especially in areas like history it is really enlightening to see other points of view.</p>

<p>Harvard vs. Columbia on the point of diversity:
A. That’s Columbia’s business school. You’ll probably meet a business school student or two during your time in either college (Harvard has a few graduate students living in each dorm and House), but it won’t affect your life. At all.
B. Columbia may have us beat by a few points in terms of diversity, but not many: [Harvard</a> accepts a diverse class of 2015 - Boston.com](<a href=“http://articles.boston.com/2011-03-30/news/29366858_1_financial-aid-students-high-school-classes]Harvard”>http://articles.boston.com/2011-03-30/news/29366858_1_financial-aid-students-high-school-classes)</p>

<p>It’s not mine dude, I found it on another site and posted it on YouTube since it seemed a little funny.</p>

<p>well i think we can assume from most great colleges there will be a fairly strong level of diversity thanks to affirmative action, i just dont think theres much of a difference in a person learning about other cultures from the two black people in their class and the four black people in their class</p>

<p>Buh they’re both pretty diverse colleges, so it really doesn’t make a difference. I’m gonna say that Columbia’s diversity is due to the fact that it’s in New York City, and the best of the best around that area probably aspire to go there, so the diversity of the college is reflective of the population around it. On the other hand, Cornell is in the middle of podunk nowhere in upstate New York where people go cowtipping. It’s gonna be pretty white. Neither of the colleges are putting more emphasis on diversity than each other, it’s just how the applicant pool worked out. I really think the environment itself should be more of a tipping factor than class diversity, because if you think about it, they’re tied together anyway.</p>

<p>I completely agree with the above poster, thexfatality. Why an undergrad would prefer Columbia in NYC over one of the most beautiful college campus’ is beyond me. Columbia is terrific especially for grad school but for a real undergrad experience you just can’t beat the college town that Cornell offers. </p>

<p>By the way your cow tipping comment was hysterical…I will have to mention that one to my sons. You may want to visit Cornell before you choose to make idiotic statements which prove you have never been there and are trolling the Cornell board.</p>

<p>Also what do you mean by “the best of the best” choose to go there. I would consider my sons to have been the best of the best for whatever that means to you and they hands down chose Cornell for the undergrad experience that Columbia could never even attempt to offer. There is plenty of time to live and work in the city so to ruin an undergrad experience to just live in the city is shortsighted.</p>

<p>Hahah, I was being completely facetious with the cow-tipping comment. I’m not trolling the boards, and yes I have visited the school. I was just trying to illustrate the differences between the two areas. My “best of the best” comment was kind of just a observation i made, not meant to be a blanket statement. I used to to go to a magnet program in Queens when I was younger, and I still keep in touch with those classmates. I just noticed that a large majority of them aspired to go to Columbia or NYU, i assume because they’re so used to living in the city. My uncle (who also lived in Queens) listed Columbia as his first choice school, and my grandmother had to basically force (for lack of a better word) him to go to MIT after he was admitted. I think a majority of high schoolers, or at least a significant amount prefer to stay with what they’re used to, meaning city applicants apply to city schools and rural applicants apply to rural schools. Obviously, not all of these students fit this profile but I’m sure a lot do. And I think it’s simply a matter of perspective. Some people would simply have a better time doing undergrad in the city as opposed to Ithaca. However, it’d be ridiculous to place an emphasis on a diversity disparity between the schools.</p>

<p>Look back at the history of the OP. His only posts are related to this question, which were posed on Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, MIT, UPenn, Columbia, Cornell and Brown forums.</p>

<p>Look back at the history of this new OP. His only posts are related to this question, which were posed on Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, MIT, UPenn, Columbia, Cornell and Brown forums. Odd that he’s asking about diversity in such a way in so many forums.</p>

<p>Look back at the history of this new OP. His only posts are related to this question, which were posed on Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, MIT, UPenn, Columbia, Cornell and Brown forums. Odd that he’s asking about diversity in such a way in so many forums.</p>

<p>Since you’ve spammed tons of fora with your bogus announcement, I’ll bet you’re some cheap shill for the producers of the video.</p>

<p>Busted.</p>

<p>He also created the YouTube video he posted; obvious ■■■■■.</p>

<p>That Youtube video is hilarious. Definitely a good source of information.</p>

<p>oops, sorry but Princeton does not have a business school</p>

<p>so, what are you comparing with Columbia Business School?</p>